Our History: Taking a walk through time in Greenbush

EAST GREENBUSH -- In 1868, what sort of people lived in Greenbush, as a part of the City of Rensselaer was then known?

The answer can be found in the City Directory for Albany issued 145 years ago. The directory contained a list of businesses and residents, not only for the capital city but also for the town directly across the Hudson River from the Albany piers and slips: Greenbush.

Here's a list of some of the folks and what they did for a living three years after the end of the War Between the States.

Travel back in time to stroll along the streets and meet:

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William Ackley, a boat captain who lived in a house on Walker Street;

James Adams, a laborer, who had a house on Aiken near Partition Street;

Andrew Brickner, who lived on Columbia Street, was a marble worker on Broadway;

John Boner, a cooper, resided on Blue Row;

A teamster named Edward Boomhower was a boarder on Second Avenue;

Sewell Craig, the captain of the Oswego, a steamboat, lived on Columbia;

A widow, Mary Foyle, made her home on Mechanic near East Street;

E. Bateman Heydon, who dealt in wood and coal, resided on Broadway;

Two brothers, John and James Hickey, who owned a grocery store, had houses near each other on Broadway.

It's not surprising, given the complex of rail yards in Rensselaer, that a switchman, Edward Mullen, was on East Street;

Shoemaker George Oliver had a home on Washington;

A watchman, perhaps for the railroad, named Hiram Roat lived in a house on Washington near Third Avenue;

Andrew Smith, a brakeman, lived at Third and Glen;

Along Lawrence Street could be found a blacksmith, John Tuck;

Another widow, Alida van Heusen, had a house on Broadway, near Second Avenue;

A boarder in a home at 47 Liberty was named Charles Wackerhagen; he was a bookkeeper;

John Wright, a laborer, had a house on Harrison, near Broadway.

The final Greenbush resident, as listed alphabetically in the directory, was Stephen Younger, an engineer who resided at Broadway and Ferry.